Holy Cross' Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery Presents: Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation, Photographs by Rev. Don Doll, S.J.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery and the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross, will present Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation, Photographs by Rev. Don Doll, S.J., from Wednesday, Jan. 21 through Thursday, Feb. 20, 2004.

Vision Quest is composed of 76 color photographs of contemporary Sioux. While Doll earned much acclaim for his black and white photographs, he preferred color for this exhibition. "The black and white photographs were strong, but they tended to look like the timeless, stereotypical images of Indians of the last century. I decided that color proclaimed better that these are contemporary men and women," he said.

Integral to the exhibition are the narratives which accompany each portrait. In this manner, Doll reaches viewers not only through the photograph, but also by allowing the subject to "speak." Doll's aspirations for the exhibition are to introduce some outstanding Native Americans and "hopefully break some unfortunate stereotypes."

Gallery Events, Thursday, Jan. 22:

* 4 p.m. – Artist Talk with Rev. Don Doll, S.J. * 5 – 6:30 p.m. – Opening Reception

Gallery Events, Saturday, Jan. 24:

* 1 – 1:45 p.m. – Performance by the Quabbin Lake Singers, a Nipmuc family drum group. * 2 – 3 p.m. – Guest speaker, Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Sinte Gleska University, Rosebud Sioux Reservation, SD * 3:15 – 4 p.m. – Second performance by the Quabbin Lake Singers.

About the artist:

Rev. Don Doll, S.J. (b.1937) was born in Milwaukee, Wis., where he attended primary and secondary schools. After graduation, he entered the Jesuit Novitiate in 1955. It was as a young Jesuit that Doll first encountered the Sioux reservation communities. From 1962 – 65, he served as a teacher, coach, and supervisor of the boys' dormitory at St. Francis Mission on the South Dakota Rosebud Reservation. During that time, he began working with students to take photographs for the school's publications.

In 1964, Doll received formal instruction in photojournalism at Marquette University, and his pastime became soon became a vocation. In 1976, his portraits appeared alongside those of photographers John A. Anderson and Rev. Eugene Buechel, S.J., in a book, titled Crying for a Vision. Crying for a Vision traced one hundred years of life on the Rosebud Reservation and won Doll acclaim as a portraitist. Since 1976, Doll's work has appeared in numerous publications including National Geographic.

What is a Vision Quest?

The Hanbleceyapi (from "hanbloglagia," the sacred language of the Sioux) ceremony is often called a Vision Quest. The ceremony teaches participants about the responsibility of setting and honoring one's own limits. For the tribe, it teaches that the laws a people make for themselves are observed only as long as those limits are regarded. The Hanbleceyapi ceremony includes fasting, which allows the individual to hear the "Voice of the Sacred."

The Sioux are one of the most numerous and powerful Native American tribes, whose famous leaders include Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull. Vision Quest is the story of contemporary Lakotas, Dakotas, and Nakotas who have chosen to carry the traditions and culture of their people to future generations.

Gallery Hours:

The hours for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery are Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.– 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Admission to the gallery is free.

For additional information please contact the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at (508) 793.3356.[gallery]

On Saturday, Jan. 24, the Quabbin Lake Singers, a Nipmuc family drum group, performed at the Cantor Art Gallery. The performance corresponded with the Gallery's current exhibit, Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation: Photographs by Rev. Don Doll, S.J. Following are photographs from the event.